[ezmaass]

Many dealerships are like this, unfortunately. I've seen it first-hand but also witnessed it with others. Way back in 2001 when I bought my first BMW, I went out to several dealers for quotes within about an hour radius. I ended up buying from a dealership out of town who provided the best quote. Shortly after, I moved closer to another dealer (not my home town one), so it was really a jumble. When I first had the car serviced, the new dealer literally told me they had to switch the license plate holder because it had the name of a competing dealership! Insanity. I honestly didn't care, and I told them they were free to do so (as I didn't mind getting a new plate holder anyway!), but they never did.

So, I think some dealers are very sensitive to servicing cars that you bought somewhere else. My current dealer? They could give a darn. When I moved to my current house, I still had my 335 that I bought out of state - they always treated me like family and never made a peep about it. And now my 550xi was bought from them.

But at the end of the day, if you have an overly sensitive dealer, and they can't get over it, I'd just recommend going somewhere else... and also maybe considering replacing any branded plates, if you have them, with something generic.